Cancer cases more than COVID in Darrang and Udalguri: Assam speaker

By Devabrata Dutta

GUWAHATI: Assam Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has revealed that the districts of Darrang and Udalguri are having more cases of Cancer than COVID owing to the presence of a huge amount of arsenic in drinking water. As many as seven villages in Darrang district and many in Udalguri are severely affected by the disease said Biswajit Daimary,  Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly.

According to government data, Darrang district has 0.022 percent of overall cancer cases in the country and the villages of Pati Darrang, Shanti Pukhuri, Duwarpara, Majgaon, Dumunichuk, Gosaigaon, and Chamuapara are the worst-affected.

The cause of Cancer

In a question raised by Paramananda Rajbongshi in the ongoing Assembly session on Friday, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta cited that liquor, tobacco, viruses, radiation, poisonous chemical substances, foods like red meat and also heredity as the reasons for the spread of the disease.

However, Paramananda Rajbongshi, MLA of Sipajhar that falls in Darrang district said,

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"The prime reason for cancer in the Darrang district is not what the minister has mentioned, but because of consumption of arsenic-contaminated water and it has become alarming."

Rajbongshi has also said that the rate of cancer prevalence in Pati Darrang village might the highest in the world itself.

Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary added that even in his constituency of Panery, the number of cancer patients is way higher than COVID-19.

"Active cancer patients are over 100 at this moment from the applications I have received seeking government assistance," he said.

Speaker Daimary also asked the health minister to conduct a survey in the Darrang and Udalguri districts regarding the same to which Mahanta has given his nod.

Hajo legislator Suman Haripriya has raised the importance of a water treatment plant alongside the Prime Minister's Jal Jeevan Mission to curb the menace.

"The West Guwahati legislator might be well aware that in Fatasil Ambari area, every household has two to three cancer patients which is unbelievable. That area has several unrecognized hazardous chemical industries. Those chemical extracts get mixed up with water sources," said Suman Haripriya.

Funds allocated to Assam under JJM

During the last Lok Sabha session, responding to a query by Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria, had revealed that as many as 14 districts of Assam are either contaminated by arsenic or fluoride.

Out of 14, as many as 1,247 habitations in 12 districts are affected by arsenic contamination.

As a step to tackle this problem, the Union has increased fund allocation in Assam to Rs. 1,407.07 crore under 'Jal Jeevan Mission' in the financial year 2020-21.

The fund allocation to the state was Rs. 634.34 crores in the financial year 2019-20.

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